


Pretty in Pink

by ramblingAnthropologist



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Developing Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2018-05-25 08:10:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6186976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ramblingAnthropologist/pseuds/ramblingAnthropologist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bunch of drabbles about the relationship between the Iron Bull and Akri Adaar. It all started with one good hit to the head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You fainted into my arms

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so, this is probably never going to be 'finished' per se since I'll always think of things to write about these two nerds. And yes, pretty in pink is the name I gave their ship. Bull likes pink, Akri's magic is pink... it works.

“The Bull is down!”

It happened so fast, Akri almost didn’t have time to see it. Usually, he was off to the side, blasting or smacking anything that got close to him. Sometimes that put him in the Qunari’s general area, other times it didn’t. This time, it happened to be they were standing in the same area.

Iron Bull was obviously no light weight; his sword alone probably could’ve outweighed some of their friends. Add in the pounds of muscle and … well, he didn’t want to say fat, but the guy had a gut on him… and the guy was true to his name. He was, indeed, heavy as a bull made of iron.

Thankfully, he just so happened to fall on top of a fellow qunari. While Akri probably wasn’t nearly as strong as the older man, he still had some muscle on him. It was enough that, when he dropped his staff, he was able to stretch out his arms and catch him.

Bull was warm against him, breathing slowed and bleeding where he’d been hit. His grey skin was a little closer to white, and his one good eye was closed. Somewhere close by, his sword lay off to the side from where he had dropped it mid battle. The mage had never been good at healing magic, but for once he tried. Creators, did he try.

The energy poured out of him and left him dizzy, but he saw flesh knit and close slowly, leaving raw skin that would probably scar up by the time they were through. The worst of it, the concussion he felt when his magic licked against the man’s mind, healed up and left his brain just as twisted and odd as it had been before. His breathing leveled out, and some color returned to his skin.

Akri didn’t get much chance to pause - there was an armed mercenary heading his way. Gritting his teeth, he threw out his hand. Eyes glowing, the wave of ice that spread from his gesture speared the other man mere inches from his face and sprayed him with red blood.

Not bad for someone holding up the weight of a full grown bull Qunari.

“Come on, big guy, wake up on me.” His heart thudded as he waited for Iron Bull to open his eyes. The Keeper had warned him one day he might not be enough. Maybe it was the ice melting, but there was water on his face, dripping down his cheeks and making his vitaar tacky. 

At that moment, Akri regretted never telling him he thought his ass was hot in those ridiculous pants.

“Fuck.”

Bull’s scarred, chapped lips moved as he grunted the expletive. Wincing, his eye opened, unfocused at first, but eventually came to rest on the man who was holding him up.  
“Boss, that you? What happened? Feels like I got hit with a sledgehammer.”

Akri had never fought so hard to keep a smile off his face as he did to see Iron Bull awake. His chest fluttered, and he opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped. He didn’t want to say anything too ridiculous that might give himself away. After all, they were on the field of battle.

“You fainted… straight into my arms.” Creators knew why, but he added with a slight smirk. “You know, if you wanted my attention you didn’t have to go to such extremes.  
Nailed it.

Off to the side, he heard Dorian snort with repressed mirth as he cleared up the last of the mercenaries. His cheeks mottled as he was pretty sure he heard Varric mutter about ‘putting that one in the book’ as he messed with one of Bianca’s gears. Death right then sounded like a pretty good idea.

Iron Bull was able to stand at that point, so he did. Without meaning to, he treated the mage to a front row seat as he flexed his sore muscles, checking the repair jobs. He even fingered the still-tender flesh, checking its durability. His eye found Akri’s.

“You do this?”

“Well, you kind of fell on me. I didn’t want you bleeding out.” It was a poor recovery, and the qunari knew it. Grumbling, he stooped down to retrieve his staff, then set to picking the pockets of the dead mercenaries. With any luck, they’d find the key they were looking for.

Much to his surprise, though, a large hand rested on his shoulder as he bent down over one corpse. It was connected to the Qunari, who had a rather strange look in his eye. Honestly, it looked more suited to a bedroom than a battle field.

“Thanks. I owe you one.”

Something about the way the man said those words caused the mage to shiver in the worst way. Face still mottled, he turned back to the carnage. He had a key to find. 

Akri could worry about the state of his pants on someone’s bedroom floor another time. Well, at least his big head could. The little one was starting to protest.

Talk about awkward timing.


	2. What, it's medicine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Wow I haven't written anything for these guys in 5ever...)
> 
> Bull got more than he expected when he decided to have some of the cocoa Varric got for him. A cold night's always better when you have someone to share it with, even if he doesn't know constellations from a hole in the ground. Good thing he's cute.

It was damn cold that night.

Of course, that was probably what he got for sitting on the battlements instead of heading downstairs into the Herald’s Rest like a sane person. The Iron Bull shrugged it off as he strolled along, nodding to the occasional guard that passed him. They were gawking less.

His goal was a relatively clear spot of stone near the eastern wall, large enough for him to sit stretched out if he felt like it. With how his knee ached, he definitely felt like it. Easing his body down to the cold stone wasn’t the easiest thing, but he did it with only a little bit of groaning. Up above, the stars twinkled in the cold, clear sky and mingled with his breath as he stared up to admire the view.

Bull sighed as he reached over to the container he had put down not long ago. It was still warm to the touch, thankfully. Steam rose as he cracked it open and poured the thick liquid into a mug, closing his one good eye as he took a deep sniff.

Home rushed back to him in fits and spurts. He could see his tama, handing him a similar mug when he had barely started growing into his horns. She had told him it would help the stomach pains, even though they were mostly his fault to begin with. Sometimes self control took a bit longer to develop for some people.

He took a sip as he stared up at the sky. The constellations went by different names here, but they were still the same stars he had grown up under, if maybe in different positions. It was harder to see at night than it used to be, but he could still pick out some of them even if their names had begun to fail him a little. Lack of use rather than too many hits to the head, Bull hoped, as he wracked his memory.

The cocoa had suffered a little from the trip over, and the moisture of Skyhold hadn’t helped it much either. For the untold number of times, he cursed the cold climate under his breath, creating steam that rose and disappeared. Whoever thought settling this far south was an idiot.

No matter, there were ways to fix it up. It was another remedy his tama had one given him when sick. She had never thought to combine the two, and it was probably for the best. Something like this would had never been allowed under the Qun.

So maybe he only felt a little bad as he dropped the squishy pink cube into his cup. Those he had picked up in Val Royeaux on his last trip with the boss. Kaaras had been in such a state then he had nearly shoved one in his mouth to calm him down. Only Josephine and a lack of depth perception had really stopped him. Well, that and the fact it would’ve been a real shame to waste one of his little treats.

The sweet taste had a hint of rose to it, and it did much to liven up the somewhat diminished cocoa. Bull sighed in quiet relief as he took another sip, eye closing as he did. Like this, Par Vollen wasn’t as far away as he thought.

“Didn’t think I’d find you up here, big guy.”

A voice off to his left cause him to turn. Standing there, still not wearing any damn shoes for that matter, was the Inquisitor’s younger brother. Akri gave him a jaunty little wave as he dropped to the stone next to him. Bull remembered being able to do that once, and a small pang of jealousy rippled through him. Oh to be young and stupid again.

Well, he could still be pretty stupid when he wanted to be, or at least that’s what Dorian told him.

“Decent night out.” He put his mug to the side for a second in order to face him. “What are you doing up here, though?”

The mage shrugged his shoulders as he leaned back, tilting his head up to the stars. “It was too noisy down below. I wanted to see the stars. June’s hammer is bright tonight.”

He sniffed, and then turned to face Bull. “What’s that smell? Kinda like roses but sweeter.”

That hadn’t taken long. The newly minted Tal-Vashoth had to resist the urge to grin as he picked his mug back up. Akri’s violet eyes were on him like a hawk, glowing faintly in the low torch light. Like that, he looked even less like a terrifying mage than he normally did.

“Old Qunari remedy for stomach aches. Varric got me some.”

He got a snort in response. “Tummy troubles, Bull? Maybe you oughta take it easy downstairs at dinner.”

Akri followed up his retort with a playful poke to the warrior’s stomach. The fact it went in further than it used to definitely bruised more than the Iron Bull’s skin, though he would never say that. He had won that one.

However, he was the one with the cocoa, so the war’s victor was already carved in stone.

“That hurts, Akri. That’s hurtful.” He took another sip. “Besides, this is pretty good.”

That caught the mage’s attention. The Iron Bull didn’t even fight to keep the grin off his face as he watched violet eyes travel over to the mug. While he had no idea what exactly was going through the other man’s head, the end path was all the same.

“Really, huh? Can I try some? I think ma might’ve mentioned it before when Kaas got sick.”

He should’ve said no, but the almost saccharine look Akri gave him could have melted stone. Luckily, the lid of the container functioned as a – much smaller – cup. This Bull filled and handed over to his companion, watching with amusement as the inspection began.

“You know I didn’t poison it, right?”

Akri jerked his head in a nod before giving the dark liquid a cautious sniff. In that position, it reminded the qunari of the cat that hung around the tavern. Both of them had the same way of sniffing out handouts they had only been begging for seconds earlier. If they were as alike as he thought, he wondered if there might be meowing soon.

There was not, but there was time for belly rubs later if he was lucky.

“Old habits die hard.” Akri finally took a sip. “Bullshit, no way this is medicine.”

Bull didn’t expect to laugh much that night, but he found himself all but doubled over, snorting with mirth. Something about the mage’s face had done it to him. His sides ached, but maybe he had needed a different dose of medicine after all.

“What, it is.” He paused to wipe a tear from his eye. “Well, partially anyway. Back home we didn’t add that much sugar.”

That tended to spoil the medicinal effect, but it wasn’t like his tama was there to see it. Sure, he still swore he could see her iron gaze this far across the sea, but there was no way she’d pop up. He kept thinking that even as he glanced over his shoulder. Never hurt to check.

“Uh-huh, and I’m a Templar.” He was still drinking it, though. “Nice place to sit, though. Can’t see June’s Hammer like this anywhere else.”

Akri pointed to a star shape that was definitely not a hammer no matter what he said. “See? You can see the pommel there.”

“I think you’re going to need your vision checked. That is clearly Koslun’s scroll.”

“Says the guy with one eye! That’s a fucking pommel!”

Another poke to the side, and it was becoming one of their regular cultural debates. Still, with the cocoa and the night sky above, it wasn’t a bad one. The Iron Bull only regretted not bringing more with him as he settled in for what was to be a rather long talk. His knee was going to regret it in the morning, but that was the next day’s problem.

Besides, there was no way that was a hammer.

**Author's Note:**

> Akri is literally too gay to live. He's also a giant Dalish nerd. 
> 
> This was actually a prompt on tumblr. It was for "You fainted…straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention you didn’t have to go to such extremes.” 
> 
> I had too much fun.


End file.
